Trump warns Venezuela's new acting president: Report

WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump on Sunday warned Venezuela's new acting president that there will be a price to pay if she fails to “do what’s right."

“If (Delcy Rodriguez) doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro," Trump told The Atlantic magazine in a telephone interview, referring to President Nicolas Maduro, who was captured by US forces on Saturday.

On Saturday, Trump said US military action on Venezuela had resulted in the capture of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, also pledging to assert American control over the country for the time being, with US troops if necessary.

After the US captured Maduro, Venezuela's Supreme Court directed Rodriguez to “immediately” assume the post of acting president.

Trump had accused Maduro of overseeing drug shipments into the US and holding power illegitimately through election fraud. Maduro, who is currently in custody at a New York detention facility pending drug charges, has rejected the allegations, and officials in Caracas have called for his release.

According to the report, Trump made clear that he would not stand for what he described as Rodriguez’s "defiant rejection" of the armed US intervention that resulted in Maduro’s capture.

Trump’s sharp warning to Rodriguez contrasted sharply to the praise he gave her on Saturday, hours after US forces attacked the capital Caracas. At a news conference following the operation, Trump said Rodriguez had privately expressed a willingness to cooperate with the US, which he claimed would temporarily “run” her country.

"She’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Trump told reporters.

Rodriguez quickly rejected that characterization, asserting that Venezuela is “ready to defend our natural resources” and that the nation’s defense team remains committed to Maduro’s policies, whose return she demanded.

“We shall never be a colony ever again,” she said.

'Rebuilding there and regime change ... is better than what you have right now'

Trump indicated he would not hesitate to authorize a second wave of military action if he deemed it necessary.

"You know, rebuilding there and regime change, anything you want to call it, is better than what you have right now. Can’t get any worse," Trump said, according to the report.

In a December 2016 speech as president-elect, Trump said the US would “stop racing to topple foreign regimes that we know nothing about,” reflecting his opposition to “nation building” and his belief that the country should prioritize rebuilding at home rather than intervening in nations like Iraq and Afghanistan.

When asked by the magazine why regime change in Venezuela would be different from previous interventions he opposed, Trump pointed to former President George W. Bush.

“I didn’t do Iraq. That was Bush. You’ll have to ask Bush that question, because we should have never gone into Iraq. That started the Middle East disaster,” he said, according to The Atlantic.

Trump has stated that the US must assert control over the Western Hemisphere, referencing a modern take on the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine, which opposed European colonialism in the region -- an approach he dubbed the “Donroe Doctrine.” However, in the interview, he said that the decision to target the Venezuelan president was based on the country itself, not just its location.

“It’s not (the) hemisphere. It’s the country. It’s individual countries,” he said during the call.

The magazine said Trump reaffirmed that Venezuela may not be the last country subject to American intervention.

“We do need Greenland, absolutely,” Trump said, describing the semi-autonomous territory of Denmark as “surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships.”

Trump’s oft-stated goal of acquiring Greenland has been rebuffed by the island’s leaders and its people, as expressed through opinion polls.